Four Kisses For Four Chefs
by idreamofjily
Summary: Lily finds each of the Marauders cooking and shares a special, completely undesirable moment with them. Well, maybe one of them is desired. James/Lily
1. Chocolate Pudding With a Side of Remus

Lily didn't go to the kitchens very often. She'd known where they are for years – Severus had shown her in year three – but she rarely had reason to hassle the houselves. But Lily was stressed, O. were coming up and she'd been studying all day, only to realise that she'd eaten all her chocolate. And Lily needed chocolate to study. She'd asked her roommates if they had nay, but Mary was on a cleansing diet which consisted on only eating carrots and potatoes, and Marlene swore at her and told her to get her own.

So that was how Lily found herself tickling the green pear on the entrance to the kitchens, half an hour before curfew. She pulled open the door the find the kitchen in disarray, and before she could take in much more than the house elves darting about in apparent distress, a loud CRASH brought her attention to the cause of all the mayhem.

Remus Lupin stood in the middle of the kitchen area with his back to her, covered in some identifiable brown goo, that Lily prayed was just cake batter.

"Remus?" Lily asked, completely bewildered by the sight before her. "Are you alright?" Remus stiffened at the sound of his name but didn't turn around. Before she could say anything else, Lily felt a light tug at her skirt and looked down to see a house elf with an extremely crooked nose peering up at her.

"Excuse me Miss, but we are so glad you is here. Mister Lupin is a bad cook, and usually his friends help him, but Mister Lupin's friends are not here and Mister Lupin has messed our kitchen up and we don't know what to do. Please help Miss," the house elf implored with a worried look.

"It's alright Tweak," came Remus' voice, Lily looked up, startled as she hadn't realise Remus had been listening. "I'll clean it up, don't worry,' he said confidently, before giving Lily a sheepish smile. Lily couldn't help but laugh; brown mixture was running down Remus' nose and dripping onto his chest, slightly ruining the confident look he was going for.

"Oh Remus, what on earth are you doing?" Asked Lily as she approached the kitchen bench. "Trying a new look? Because it really isn't working for you," she grinned as she sat on one of the stools leaning against the bench.

"Funny," said Remus, shooting her a deadpan look. She watched as he got out his wand from a slightly sticky pocket and quickly cleaned himself up. "I was, believe it or not, attempting to cook," he explained after giving himself a once over to make sure he had got all the mixture off. Lily decided not to tell him about the chunk still stuck in his left eyebrow.

Lily flicked her wand to wipe up the bench as Remus sat down next to her. "If that was cooking than remind me never to eat anything you cook."

Remus groaned, slumping onto the bench and putting his head in his arms. "I just wanted some chocolate pudding," he mumbled.

"Why didn't you ask the house elves to make it for you?"

Remus looked up at her sheepishly. "I wanted to do it myself," he said before burying his head again.

"Well good job on that one, you nearly blew up the bloody kitchen! Fortunately for you, I _can_ cook and I happen to be in the mood for pudding. So move over chef, it's my turn in the kitchen." She lightly hip checked him before moving around the bench to the recipe he had lain out.

"I think it's baker, not chef."

"Shhhh I'm concentrating."

It didn't take Lily long. The recipe was relatively simple, and as she worked Remus chattered to her, keeping her entertained. He'd come down to the kitchen because he'd been stressed and craving chocolate too, although his efforts at chocolate pudding had obviously turned out to be a disaster. "I'm a shit cook," he said cheerfully as he swung forward on his chair. "Always have been, I don't know why I thought I could master this pudding. I can make a pretty mean Shepard's Pie though. I usually leave the cooking to Peter and James anyway."

"James can cook?" Lily asked in surprise as she looked up the spell to instantly cook the pudding.

"Oh yeah, he loves too. I probably shouldn't have told you that though, he seems to think that if it gets out it will ruin his reputation," said Remus. Even though Lily wasn't looking at him, she could practically hear the eye roll in his voice.

Lily snorted indignantly. "What reputation? That he's an ass?" she asked as she flourished her wand over the raw pudding. She watched in satisfaction as the mixture began to cook in front of her.

"He's not that bad and you know it. You can't tell me you haven't noticed how much he's grown this year. You should give him a chance,' said Remus as he watched her place to healthy servings into the bowls on the counter.

It was true that James had matured somewhat during the year. Lily hadn't seen him hex anyone in the corridors, he had stopped asking her out and she'd even seen him studying once or twice. But all these things hardly made her want to jump into his quidditch toned arms.

"No," said Lily as she walked around the counter and settled into the stool next to Remus's. "I'm not sure he deserves a chance yet. Besides, why would I go after him when you're the one that's _so_ good in the kitchen," Lily teased.

"Shut up. I tried alright? It's not my fault that mixtures explode in my face."

"Then who's is it?"

"The Gods."

"Pity, I hear girls love a man that can cook," Lily teased.

"Do they?" Remus asked quietly, Lily turned to find his face close to hers; she hadn't realised how close they were sitting to each other. Remus leaned towards her slightly, a spark of determination in his green eyes. He was so close that Lily could see the light freckles that dusted his nose, contrasting with the dark brown mixture still in his eyebrow. Before Lily could properly process what was happening, Remus pressed his lips to her, his hands grasping her shoulders to tightly she thought they would leave bruises. The kiss was sweet and chaste, and he tasted like chocolate, which didn't surprise Lily.

Before she even had a chance to respond, Remus pulled back slightly, the grip on her shoulders loosening. Lily's eyes were wide with shock as Remus searched them, as if looking for an answer to some unknown riddle.

Lily gapped like a fish. "T-that… that was erm, nice. Yeah, thanks for that,' Lily babbled, conscious of the fact that Remus hadn't pulled back from her, Lily fixed her eyes determinedly on the pudding mixture his eyebrow, not wanting to see his expression.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" exclaimed Remus, cutting Lily off midsentence. He leaned back before running a hand through his hair, reminiscent of his friendship with James.

"What?" asked Lily, more confused than ever.

"That was terrible, thank you for agreeing with me," said Remus, shaking his head in amusement.

"I never said it was terrible."

"That's beside the point. It was like kissing my sister."

"It really was, wasn't?" Lily laughed. "Why did you do it then?" she asked, turning back to her half-eaten pudding.

"I dunno, curiosity? I mean, you can't tell me you've never thought about it?" asked Remus.

"Not really."

"Oh," said Remus. "Well at least now we know. And let's agree to never do that again." Lily thought about it and shuddered as she remembered the awkward feeling of the kiss, making Remus laugh. "Am I really that bad at kissing?" he asked, only half teasing.

"No, no. The kiss was fine, but like you said, it was like kissing my brother, which is not something I'd like to repeat. So lets never do it again. In fact. Lets never talk about it again, agreed?"

"Agreed! James would absolutely skin me alive if he knew this happened," said Remus, going slightly pale at the thought.

"Just eat your pudding."


	2. Peter the Slobbering Muffin

**Ahoy there! This is going to be a short story about Lily finding the Marauders cooking, and different moments she shares with them. There will be five chapters, and while it will be a Jily James/Lily fic, the first few chapters will feature Lily's relationships with the other boys. I'm saving the best until last.** **It will be worth the wait, I promise!**

It had been a few weeks since what Lily had dubbed 'The Incident', happened with Remus. O.W.L.S were over, and the end of year feast was tomorrow night, which is why Lily found herself skulking around the kitchens late that night. The Marauders, as they so fondly called themselves, were missing, and Lily just knew in her gut that they were planning a prank for the feast, just like she knew in her gut that Peter would be in the kitchens preparing snacks for a full night of prank planning. And like any good detective, Lily knew that if she wanted any information, she would have the most luck with the weakest link, Peter.

She felt bad for exploiting Peter's trusting and gentle nature, but Lily had to know what the prank was going to be. Last year she had gotten caught up in the after math of it; she had spent her last few hours of year five tending to burns and catching rogue teapots (apparently it didn't occur to the boys when they charmed the teapots to dance to Sirius's rendition of 'Mamma Mia', they would be filled with _boiling_ _water._ ) Lily did not want a repeat of the past year. If the prank was going to result in more chaos than usual, Lily wanted to avoid it.

Fortunately, Lily knew exactly how to approach Peter to get what she wanted; stroke his ego. Peter was best friends with three guys who were almost treated like Gryffindor royalty. Everyone loved the Marauders, they were funny, smart and good looking. Unfortunately, Peter was none of this. At least not at first glance. However, Peter wasn't stupid; he knew he didn't have Sirius's looks, James wit or Remus's brains, but everyone that knew him properly, knew that he made up for this in other ways. But despite Peter knowing that he had value to add to the group, he often felt that other people didn't see it, and so this was often a sore point for the dumpy marauder. Which was perfect for Lily's plan.

"Hey Peter," Lily called as she slipped through the kitchen door. The kitchen was buzzing with movement as the house elves hurried prepared for the upcoming feast, although she could see they'd kindly given Peter a small portion of bench space to cook on.

"Hey Lily, how are you?" he asked, glancing up from his half made pumpkin pie and shooting her a friendly - if slightly confused - smile.

"I'm good, I'm good. What are you up to there Peter?" she asked, watching as he struggled to create the crust for the pie. "I didn't know you could cook."

Peter grunted in amusement. "Who did you think supplied the snacks for when we're working? Sirius?" he snorted at the thought. "We'd be dead in an hour with his cooking," Peter shook his head. "But anyway, what brings you to the kitchens on this fine night Lily? I didn't take you for a midnight snacker."

"Oh, you know…" Lily said vaguely, waving her hand dismissively for added effect. "Just, erm, came to check on the house elves? Yeah, you know, with being a prefect and everything, I thought I should just check that things were going alright."

"You came to check on the house elves?" asked Peter, disbelief colouring his tone.

"Uh huh. Yep."

"You came to check if they knew how to do the job that they've been doing all year?"

"Yep."

"The job that they've been doing probably since before we were born?"

"…yes?"

"You want to know what tomorrow's prank is don't you?"

"Yep. Wait! No," Lily laughed nervously, "even if I did I know you wouldn't tell me, I know the end of year prank is top secret."

"You're right," said Peter, "I can't tell you, and I'm more scared of Remus than I am of you."

"Hmm," hummed Lily, unsurprised by his answer. He was unwaveringly loyal to the boys, which made Lily begin to doubt her plan. However, she resolutely plonked herself down on the stool closest to the boy. So close in fact, that as he worked he would occasionally brush up against her side. He didn't say anything, only sent her a confused and shy smile that went remarkably well with his bright pink cheeks.

"So, Peter, you're like, the designated chef for the group then huh?" Lily asked, sending him a dazzling smile when he looked over at her.

"Oh, um, yes. I suppose so. Although James is also a pretty good cook."

"So I've heard," she said dismissively, not wanting to dwell on Potter at the moment. "So, Peter," she started, placing her chin in her hand she leaned forward towards him, watching him fumble with a spoon. "How did you learn to cook?"

"Oh, well, erm, my Dad taught me. He loves to cook, spends hours in the kitchen. He used to make loads and loads of food, Mum would complain that we couldn't eat it all, so he would invite practically the whole neighbourhood around for dinner." Lily watched as his face lit up at the memory, his cooking momentarily forgotten. "We'd have so many people crammed into our tiny house, with their plates chockers with whatever creation Dad had made. My Dad doesn't just love making food, he loves how it brings people together. Or at least he used too."

"He doesn't anymore?"

"He doesn't cook anymore, not since my Mum died. I don't think he sees the point anymore, since it's just him at home most of the time. However, his is a genius at beans on toast now. I don't know how he can make something simple taste so good, I make it exactly the same way and it's never as good." He sent Lily a light-hearted grin, but Lily could see the sadness he was trying to hide.

"I'm sorry Peter, about your Mum. I had no idea," she said sincerely, giving his arm a quick squeeze.

"It's alright, it was a while ago now, and I don't exactly go broadcasting it," he said softly, starring down at the spoon he was still fiddling with. A loud bang from one of the busy house elves seemed to break him out of his memories. "Right," he said, looking up, "enough with the sadness, if you're going to sit here and bother me, you might as well be useful. Try this," he commanded, holding a small chocolate chip muffin out to her, something he had made earlier.

Lily was once again reminded of her plan and considered eating the muffin straight out of his hand, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it. Instead she gingerly picked it up, and took a small bite. It was delicious. The chocolate muffin was infused with cinnamon, giving a delightful twist to what she had anticipated. Lily looked up to find Peter watching her eagerly.

"Oh, Peter this is wonderful!" exclaimed Lily, and she meant it. "You are a fantastic cook. Honestly, I think this might be the best muffin I've ever had," she said, laying it on just a tad bit thick.

"Really, you think so?"

"Oh absolutely. No wonder you boys are able to do such clever things, when you've got amazing food like this keeping you company," continued Lily, placing her hand once again on Peter's arm. He looked down at it nervously, his eyes flickering between it and her face.

"Yes, well," swallowed Peter, "we do some pretty marvellous things."

Lily leaned slightly closer, drawing Peter in. "And what," she whispered, as if she were about to tell some great secret. "What marvellous things are planned for the feast tomorrow night?"

"I-ugh…"

It happened in a series of moments. One moment Peter was leaning towards her, the next he was hurtling forward to clash painfully with Lily in his haste. In that moment, his lips found hers, wet and sloppy as he attempted to kiss her. The next moment Lily had flung herself away from Peter, toppling backwards off the stool and landing ungracefully onto the floor with a loud bang. Peter stood above her, looking shocked and confused as she scrambled on the floor to her feet with as much dignity as possible, before turning for the door, not daring to meet his eye.

"I, um, s-sorry," she stuttered out over her shoulder as she all but ran to the door, dodging confused house elves as she went. As she whirled through the door she caught a glimpse of Peter standing next to her fallen stool, looking red-faced and horrified.

Lily ran, flights of stairs a blur. She didn't even spare a thankful thought that the corridors were empty until she collapsed in a heap on the fifth floor next to a suit of armour.

 _Oh Merlin,_ she thought _, Peter Pettigrew kissed me. He actually kissed me. Oh, Merlin, I think I need some mouth washed. Or a bath._

Lily knew she was being dramatic, and possible mean. But as she remembered his slobbering mouth on hers, she couldn't bring herself to care. She shuddered as she remembered the sensation. Now there was a memory that she would be happy to erase. She liked Peter, but she had never ever had the desire to kiss him, even if she had essentially blown up his pride and flirted with him. Well she guessed it was her own fault, however she was resolved that no one would ever find out. Ever.

 _Right,_ thought Lily resolutely. _It's not that bad. I just need to forget it happened, forget that horrible, slimy kiss ever happened and I'll be fine. But first I need to see if Marlene has any of that mouthwash she brought in Hogsmeade left._ She got off the ground and started walking back to the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't until much later that night, when Lily had used almost all of Marlene's mouthwash and was lying in bed trying desperately _not_ to think about the events of the evening, that she realised that she didn't even find out the marauder's plan.

 **I knoooow, I felt sooo gross writing this. I think I need to go was my mouth out too! Please leave any reviews or comments, they're greatly appreciated! Next up: Sirius!**


	3. Tea With an Unexpected Sirius Slip

**Ahoy there! I know it's been ages since my last update, I don't really have an excuse except I'm really lazy. Anyway, here is Sirius' part! I really enjoyed writing this, I really love the idea of Lily and Sirius having a good friendship that's both serious and fun. Please feel free to leave some love! Or criticism, if that's your thing.**

Lily couldn't sleep. She was lying in the most comfortable bed that she had ever had the pleasure to be in, and she couldn't sleep. She rolled over to check her watch on the bedside table groaning when she saw that it was four thirty in the morning.

She got out of bed quietly so as not to disturb her friends sleeping in the bed next to hers. She looked over and snorted as she was greeted with the sight on Marlene's arse in black underwear on display for the world to see. The girl in question was sprawled across the bed, half squishing the small bundle of blankets next to her that hid Mary in them. In fact, the only way Lily could tell that Mary was even alive under the many layers was by the gentle fluttering of Marlene's hair that was stirred by Mary's breath as she rested on top of her. Mary had drawn the short straw and had to share a bed with the chronic bed hog.

Lily made her way down the hallway and down the grand staircase, cursing her stupidity for leaving her wand on her bedside table, forcing her to stumble along in the dark in the unfamiliar house. She did however, rather surprisingly reach the kitchen without injury, and she was so preoccupied with her own self-congratulations that she didn't notice the voices coming from the kitchen until she entered the room.

She blinked stupidly in the sudden light, her sleep addled brain trying to make sense of the scene before her. Sirius Black, standing in the Potter's kitchen at four thirty am, up to his elbows in dough, wearing a bright yellow apron with the words _My Most Magical Mum_ written in it in pink swirly font.

Before she had a chance to process what was going on, Sirius noticed her hesitating in the doorway. 'Lily? What are you doing up? Is everything alright?' he asked, concern colouring his tone.

'Couldn't sleep,' Lily mumbled, making her way to one of the stools next to the bench and collapsing onto it, exhausted.

'Dreaming about me?' Sirius asked, giving her an exaggerated wink.

'You wish,' she replied, rolling her eyes.

'Nah, James wishes.'

'James wishes that I dreamt about you and me?' questioned Lily, her brain still half asleep.

'What? No. Why would he want you to dream about us?' He paused in kneading the dough, sending her a puzzled look.

'Who's dreaming about who?' came a muffled voice. Lily turned to see Euphemia's generously sized bottom sticking up as she leant into the oven. She turned around and smiled at Lily, placing a tray on the bench next to her, completely unaware of the blob of icing that was stuck to her cheek. 'Lily dear,' she said, 'is everything okay? Why are you up?' She placed soft hand on Lily's arm, her warm brown eyes, so similar to her son's own, studied Lily's face seriously.

'No one's dreaming about anyone,' said Lily, she sent a tired smile to Euphemia, ignoring Sirius' indignant scoff. 'And I'm alright Mia, just having trouble sleeping; I can't seem to shut my brain off.'

'Oh, I understand, dear,' she sympathised, giving Lily's arm a gentle squeeze. 'Sirius used to have the same problem. Actually,' she said, straightening up abruptly, 'Flea still has a vile of the sleeping potion Sirius used to use, just a tick.' Lily watched Euphemia bustle off, disappearing through the doorway.

'You had trouble sleeping?' Lily turned back towards Sirius, who's tongue was sticking out in concentration as he attempted to clean his hands of dough.

'Yeah.' He sighed and moved towards the sink to wash his hands, apparently giving up on picking it off. He raised his voice slightly to be heard over the running water. 'When I first moved here, everything felt so surreal, and whilst James kept me from wallowing too much during the day, it was more difficult not to get caught up in it at night. So I'd come down here.' He shrugged. 'It didn't take Euphemia very long to figure out I wasn't just popping down for a glass of water every night. She was pretty amazing actually, often stayed up with me long after she'd finished cooking.' He turned the tap off, not meeting Lily's eye as he dried his hands on his pink apron. 'She's been more like a mother to me than Walburga ever was.' He looked up at Lily with a rueful grin, his eyes a mixture of emotions that Lily couldn't quiet decipher.

'Why does she do that? Cook I mean,' Lily asked. 'I don't know a lot about cooking, but the way Mia does it, it seems almost… muggle.'

'Because I'm rubbish at cooking spells,' came a voice from the doorway. Lily turned to see Euphemia walking back into the kitchen, holding a tiny blue vial. 'Plus,' she said, 'I think it tastes better when it's done this way. A bit of elbow grease never goes astray.'

'But don't you have a house elf? I could've sworn I saw one Christmas Day? Delphi, I think her name was?' asked Lily, confused. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen the little elf since Christmas.

'Oh, Merlin no, can you imagine how much more spoilt James would be if we had an elf?' Euphemia laughed, shaking her head fondly. 'No Delphi is one of the elves that we higher for big events; we don't have one all the time.'

'I don't think James could get anymore spoilt,' piped up Sirius.

'Oh, hush you.' Euphemia scolded as she put the kettle on. 'Like you're any better; I spoil you just as much as James! Tea dear?' she asked Lily.

'Yes thanks Mia. But,' Lily said, turning her attention back to Sirius. 'The other boys think you can't cook. They told me.'

'Yes, and I'd like to keep it that way,' replied Sirius with a pointed look. 'If they knew I can cook, I'd have to contribute to snacks, and I already have the responsibility of being the bringer of drink and taster of food. I don't want to have to cook as well.'

'My, what big responsibilities you have.' Lily rolled her eyes. 'But James can cook, can't he? Did you teach him Euphemia?'

'Oh yeah, James used to come down to the kitchen, just like you two. And I told him that if he was going to be down here, he might as well help me, just like I told Sirius. James stopped coming down when he was thirteen, I guess sleep is more important to him than cooking is. Either that or he realised that cooking with you mum isn't cool.'

'Hey!' protested Sirius from where he was placing the dough rolls in the oven. 'Cooking with your mum is plenty cool.'

'Yes,' replied Euphemia wryly, 'and that's why you keep it a secret, because it's so cool.' Lily grinned, watching the playful banter between them. While she hadn't seen much of Sirius interacting with James' parents before this week, it was clear to see that they were very fond of the ridiculous boy. Sirius sent Euphemia a cheeky grin, to which she rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed as she hustled out of the kitchen, muttering about teenage boys and something about cats being more grateful.

'It's sweet,' said Lily, nodding towards the door through which Euphemia had just exited. 'You can tell they care about you.'

'Yeah,' Sirius lent forward onto the bench, his hands clasped together in front of him. 'I'm lucky, they're pretty great, and James doesn't seem to mind sharing his parents with me.' His grey eyes were warm as he looked up from his hands, but he quickly cleared his throat, breaking the soft silence. 'But what's keeping you up Lils? Too many sexy dreams about me, you little minx?' He sent her a dramatic wink, clearly back to his usual crazy self.

Lily snorted, walking around the bench to pour the kettle, which started to whistle. 'I wish,' she replied, ignoring Sirius raised eyebrow. 'No, I got a letter from Petunia earlier tonight. She thinks it would be best if I spent the rest of the Christmas holidays at Hogwarts, as she hasn't told her boyfriend about my 'abilities' yet. She doesn't want me to come home.' She poured the boiling water into the waiting teacups, studiously avoiding Sirius' eye. If there was one thing she hated, it was pity. However, Sirius surprised her when he didn't reply with pity, but instead said:

'Well you'll just have to stay here until school goes back.'

Lily stopped dumping sugar into her tea and looked up in shock. 'You can't just invite me to stay at the Potter's house.'

'You forget that it's my house too,' Sirius said, reaching over for his own cup of tea. 'Besides, Flea and Mia love having people to fill the house, and I hardly think James would protest,' he shot her a cheeky grin as he plopped down on a stool.

Lily was surprised that she felt a tinge of excitement at the thought of staying with the Potter's for another week with her friends. 'Thank you, Sirius, I would honestly love to stay.' She sat down on the stool next to him. 'But all the same, I would like to check with Mia first. Where is she?'

'Well it's five-thirty, so I'd imagine that she's fallen asleep in the armchair again. But here,' he reached over and picked up the vial that Euphemia had left on the bench, holding it out to her. 'Three drops of this on your tongue and you'll be out like a light in ten minutes, guaranteed. I'll tell everyone not to wake you, so you can get a few decent hours. We can talk about your sister and that miserable oaf when you're more awake.'

Lily turned to Sirius, who was looking down at his tea lost in thought, suddenly overwhelmed with what a good friend, and person he was. He was often goofy and dramatic, and not a little but annoying, but underneath he was kind and caring. She knew he loved his friends fiercely, and she was slightly amazed and honoured to realise that she was one of those people. 'Thank you Sirius,' she said softly, leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Having been looking down at this mug, Sirius did not realise what Lily was doing, and turned to respond to her. Both Lily and Sirius were suitably shocked when their lips met, freezing them in place for a fraction of a second before they jumped away, Sirius spilling his hot tea all over himself.

'I- Merlin, what- Sirius-' Lily spluttered as the boy in question jumped up, knocking the stool over and reaching for his wand to dry himself amidst a string of cursing. When he finally quieted he looked up at Lily, his eyes wide with shock and confusion.

'Did you just try and kiss me Lily Evans?' he asked, his usually cocky self was gone, replaced by complete shock. 'I mean you're brilliant and all, but I don't see you in that way, I mean James is the one that…' he trailed off when he realised that Lily was clutching her stomach in laughter, her whole face bright red from the exertion.

'Oh my goodness,' gasped Lily. 'I can't believe that just happened. That you honestly believed that I tried to _kiss_ you.' She erupted into another pearl of laughter, her whole body shaking, she was laughing so much that almost no sound came out.

'It's not that funny,' Sirius grumbled, his own face feeling slightly pink. 'Wait, you didn't try to kiss me?'

'No, you nut,' chuckled Lily, wiping her eyes as she sobered up and sat back on the stool. 'Well I did try to kiss you, but only on the cheek. Like a friend would do. You're the numpty that turned your head.'

'Oh Merlin,' Sirius groaned, sitting back on his stool and hiding his face in his hands. 'Lets never mention this again okay?'

'Isn't this the part where you ask if it was as good for me as it was for you?' asked Lily, teasing him.

'Oh, my goodness, stop, I don't want James to hear and string me up by my intestines.'

'I can't believe this,' said Lily. 'Who would've thought that I would be the one teasing you about this? You're the one that always insists that I'm attracted to you.'

'Yes,' said Sirius, looking up at her seriously. 'And I am always _joking_ , as you well know. I never seriously crack onto my friends for merlins sake.'

'Well, in any case,' said Lily, standing up and stretching. 'Let's pretend that this never happened, yeah? Good. Well on that bizarre note, I'm beat. Goodnight Sirius. Don't stay up too late thinking of me,' she winked, grinning at the glare she could feel on her as she walked away to bed. She knew that nothing would change between them, except the fact that she now had something to tease and threaten him with.


	4. Cake Makes Everything Better

The last thing that Lily expected to see when she wandered down to the kitchens was a tornado. But as she stood in he entranceway with her mouth agape, that was the only thought that came to her mind as she tried to make sense of the scene in front of her. Pots and pans flew everywhere, making house elves scuttle around as they tried to avoid the air-born silverware. As Lily watched, one poor elf gave an indignant squeak and jump back as a wooden chopping board came flying in its direction.

So engrossed and confused at what was going on, Lily did not notice the small elf at her feet until she felt a soft tug on her pyjama bottoms. Looking down, she saw one of her favourite elves, Tizzy, looking up at her in alarm.

'Oh, Miss Lily, Tizzy is so happy you are here! We need your help Miss Lily. Please help us!' Tizzy looked up at Lily imploringly, her large brown eyes reminding her of burnt coffee.

'What is going on Tizzy?' asked Lily, gesturing to the mess around them. 'Did someone hex the kitchen? Is it another cursed teapot?'

'Oh no Miss Lily, it is Mister James! He is making the mess and Tizzy hopes that you will be able to calm him down Miss Lily. Please Miss Lily, he is making such a mess!' Tizzy pulled on the corner of her pillowcase dress, clearly agitated.

'Wait, Mister _James?_ As in James Potter? He is making this mess?' There was a shriek from the far side of the room followed by a loud crash, making them both flinch slightly.

'Yes Miss Lily, he is over by the oven, making a cake. He is most upset and it is distressing Tizzy and her friends.' Tizzy had started pulling on her ears so hard that Lily was sure the small creature was hurting herself.

'It's okay Tizzy, you go calm the other elves down, and I'll deal with Mister James for you.' Lily straightened up as the little house elf tottered over to her companions who were cowering from flying cutlery in the corner. Lily sighed and made her way past the kitchen bench, which was piled so high that the dirty dishes towered over her precariously. As she peered around the counter top, Lily was greeted with the sight of James' bottom sticking up in the air as he bent over the oven. Not the sight she expected, but not necessarily a bad sight. Although she was suddenly reminded of Mrs Potter, who she had seen in the exact same position just a few weeks before.

Feeling mischievous, Lily pulled out her wand and sent a quick stinging jinx at the boy's posterior. James jumped, violently banging his head on the oven and cursing loudly. Before Lily had a chance to do more than laugh at him, James was directly in front of her attempting to look as dignified and angry as possible whilst his rubbed his arse.

'What do you want Evans?' he forced out through his gritted teeth.

Lily tried not to recoil under his glare, surprised that he was so angry at her joke. 'I just want to know why you are terrorising the house elves.'

'What?' James asked, momentarily forgetting about the stinging jinx. He took a step back from Lily to see the elves still huddling in the corner. 'I wasn't… I mean I didn't mean too… my stirring spell went wrong okay? I lost focus and it started stirring everything up. But as you can see,' he spread his arms out to the side, motioning to the mess around him. 'I fixed it.'

'Clearly,' drawled Lily as she watched a blob of brown batter on the shelf behind James drop onto the floor. 'What are you doing down here anyway? Trying to cook?'

'Hey,' said James indignantly, as he flicked his wand to restore some order. Lily ducked as a pot flew past her head and back onto the shelf. 'I'm not trying, I _can_ cook, thank you very much. And if you must know, I come down here when I want to be by myself.' James looked at her pointedly before he turned away from her, his shoulders slumped as he methodically started wiping goo off the bench.

'Hey,' said Lily gently, walking towards his side hesitantly. 'Is everything alright?' she asked, placing a hand tentatively on his shoulder, making him freeze slightly before returning to his wiping.

'It's just been a hard day,' he sighed, not meeting her eye. 'Can you just leave it?'

'A hard day? What happened today- wait. Is this about what I think it's about? Are you down here moping because you lost a _quidditch_ match?' Lily failed at keeping the disbelief out of her voice, retracting her hand from his shoulder. 'Seriously James? With everything that's going on at the moment, all the horrible news, and you had a bad day because you lost a bloody _game_? That's ridiculous.'

James' head snapped up as he glared at her, angered by Lily's words. 'I wanted to be _alone_ , Evans, for this exact reason,' he spat. 'I know that there are worse things in the world at the moment, I read the Daily Prophet, I know what's going on out there. And I feel like the biggest arse ever for moaning about quidditch while there's a war going on, but here we are.'

'Then why are you moaning about losing a quidditch match, if you know how insignificant it is in the grand scheme of things? People are _dying_ for merlin's sake James! There are bigger things to be upset about than a meaningless game!' Lily's found herself getting worked up at just how utterly _ridiculous_ he was being, her voice rising to match his.

'Because,' he said, fully facing her now, 'It's not just a meaningless game to me; quidditch is what I'm good at, it's the one thing I can _do_. I feel so useless in this castle, learning how to transfigure teacups whilst people are out there fighting this war. I should be out there fighting, but I can't do anything, not yet. But I can damn well win a game of quidditch. I mean it's my first year being captain for fuck sake, something I've been _dreaming_ about my entire life, and my first game I go and fuck it up!'

His face was flushed with exertion and Lily could feel his hot breath on her face as he stood a few inches from her, panting from his outburst. Lily found herself searching his face whilst he starred down at her, his hazel eyes trained on her own green ones. She suddenly felt rather small, wishing she could take back what she said. She knew that James was frustrated by the war; she'd heard him talk about how he wanted to fight, to contribute to the light. It wasn't fair of her to pretend that he didn't care and it wasn't fair to belittle the one thing that James seemed to truly love during these dark times. Lily suddenly found herself unable to meet his eye, scuffing her shoe on the floor as James took a deep breath and turned away from her abruptly, picking the cloth up again to wipe the filthy bench. 'Sorry,' he said, his voice defeated again. 'I just get so frustrated with all the shit that goes on and I think quidditch was just the last straw for me today.'

'Look Potter, I'm sorry,' said Lily softly, turning to the bench as well and flicking her wand nonchalantly to wipe up some of the mess, ignoring how James stopped to stare at her. 'I might not understand Quidditch, but I do know it's important to you. And… I can understand how you feel about the other stuff,'

There was a low scoff beside her. 'Sure you can,' James muttered under his breath before resuming his wipe down of the bench.

Lily's head whipped up. 'And what's that supposed to mean?' she demanded.

'Oh nothing,' said James, his tone thick with sarcasm as he dropped the cloth and faced her. 'It just surprises me that precious little Lily could understand something so faraway from her perfect grades and perfect little life. Sometimes I wonder whether you even realise what's going on out there, you're too focused on being top of the class to see what's going on in the real world!'

'How dare you,' said Lily quietly, her voice shaking with anger. 'How dare you suggest that I don't know what its like out there, what it's like in _here?_ ' Her throat tightened as the anger clawed its way out of her. 'You think I don't hear what they say about me? That I don't notice the words they mutter under their breath when I walk passed? My own best friend called me a 'filthy little _mudblood_.'' James flinched as she spat the word, his eyes lowering in shame as he recalled the part he played in that incident. 'And you have the gall to say that I'm oblivious to the war? Every bloody day is a war for me, Potter. Every day I have to tell myself that I can't just turn around and curse them all to hell, even though I'm bloody positive I could beat them all in a duel with my hands tied behind my back! That's why I study hard Potter, so that I can earn my place in this world, and when the time comes, I'll be ready to fight for it. So, _don't tell me I don't understand.'_

Although she wasn't shouting, Lily's voice had gotten louder and louder as it shook with barely contained anger. She wasn't sure that she'd ever been angrier, her face was hot, and her hands were balled at her sides. She was subconsciously aware of the house elves twittering about in the corner of the room, however she was barely even conscious of the boy she'd been speaking too as she stewed in the silence that followed her outburst, blinking back angry tears.

'I'm sorry,' said James quietly.

'What?' said Lily incredulously, the shock of hearing such a word out of James Potter's mouth making her temporarily forget her anger.

'I'm sorry. You're right, I had no right to say that' I've no idea what its like to be in your shoes, to be a muggle-born. I was wrong to think that you don't care,' he pushed his hand through his hair nervously. 'Sometimes I forget that I'm not the only one that's trying to make a difference.'

'That's because you're a self-centred arse,' muttered Lily, though she had calmed down a bit after his apology and slumped against the kitchen bench next to her.

'Yes, I am,' he admitted. 'I sometimes get a bit… well I just say things that I don't really mean. I was angry and frustrated, I'm sorry.' He lent against the bench next to her, his shoulder lightly brushing her own as she continued to take deep breaths to steady herself and clear her head. Although she and James often argued, it had never been with anger before, frustration and annoyance yes, but never full-blown anger.

Lily sighed. 'I accept your apology… I probably over-reacted a smidge as well. It's just that… my friends don't understand why I don't just turn around and hex them all to hell. It's hard enough restraining myself, let alone when all my friends are encouraging me to do something stupid. They don't understand that its not about winning the battle, it's about winning the war. Sometimes going in guns blazing isn't the best strategy. And by getting angry and reacting, I'm letting them know they get to me.' She shrugged. 'Plus, McGonagall would be furious if I did.'

'Oh merlin,' said James laughing suddenly. 'I wish you would do it just once, if only to see the look of Minnie's face when she realises her star Prefect has just decimated a group of Slytherins!'

Lily let out a huff of amusement as the messy-haired boy chuckled along beside her. They faded into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts for a moment. 'James?' said Lily softly, 'I'm sorry you lost your first quidditch game as captain.'

'Thank you,' he replied quietly. 'And for the record Evans, you're one of the most brilliant witches I know. You've already more than earned your place in this world; not that you really had to in the first place.'

'Thank you,' Lily felt her cheeks warm at the compliment that the boy beside her offered, still looking resolutely at the batter-covered cabinet in front of her. She could feel where his arm pressed against hers as they stood side by side against the counter.

After a short pause, James chuckled again and shook his head before saying, 'we make quiet the pair, don't we Evans?' Lily looked over at him to find him already staring at her, bringing their faces impossibly close together. She could see the mirth twinkling in his eyes as she gave him a small smile, a faint echo of his own wide grin. He was so close she could feel the heat radiating off him, so close she could smell the faint chocolate scent coming off his baker's skin as he moved almost indiscernibly closer, so close she could-

' _BEEEEEP!'_

James jerked back abruptly at the oven timer, and just like that, the spell was broken. Lily blinked and shook her head slowly, coming out of whatever trance she had been enchanted by. She wasn't quite sure what had just happened. She had never been so close to James before; they fought all the time, sure, but it usually ended in one of them storming off, not the opposite. This new turn of events was… interesting to say the least. And she wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. Maybe she was just thrown off by the rollercoaster of emotions she had just experienced, or the fact that James had just paid her a sincere compliment, which stood in stark contrast to the usually shouted 'oi Evans, looking fit today,' that he shouted at her across the breakfast table. Still Lily wondered what might have happened if the timer hadn't have gone off; she almost thought that he was going too… move closer at the very least?

Something within Lily warmed at the idea of being close to James, and she realised that some part of her wanted to be close to him, to chase that warmth. _No_ , thought Lily as her eyes widen with surprise at this revelation. _No, there is no way that I am attracted to James Potter_ she said to herself firmly as she tried to squash down any more traitorous thoughts. _I mean he is fit though_ , she felt herself flush as her eyes wandered to his bum, which was currently stuck into the air as he removed his cooking from the oven.

'Ah, there we go!' announced James, breaking Lily's quickly deteriorating train of thought as he levitated in front of him what looked like the worlds largest cake tray.

'What on earth is that?' asked Lily as he placed the ginormous rectangular tray on the bench which a flourish. It was so large is nearly took up the whole counter top.

James frowned at her question, poking the top of the cake gently and watching it spring back perfectly. He tisked at her, 'it's a chess board Evans, obviously.'

'Clearly,' she said, unimpressed.

'It will be, after I'm done with it anyway. It's for Pete's birthday. He's bloody good at chess and I thought he might like it.' James picked up his wand and performed a cooling charm on the enormous cake.

'Wait,' breathed Lily, her mind whirling whilst she watched James expertly slice through the cake. 'You're making a ridiculously extravagant cake for Peter's birthday. Just like the motorbike cake that appeared on the Gryffindor table for Sirius' birthday. Or the whomping willow cake that Remus had. Merlin,' she watched the small grin on James' face grow, 'you're the mystery cake maker, the one everyone's been trying to figure out, it you, isn't it?'

Lily didn't think she would ever see it, but James looked almost bashful, shrugging lightly, his hands busy with cutting the cake into a square. 'I mean,' he said, making another cut through the spongy cake, 'yeah I made those cakes. I, uh, like to bake. Not much. Just sometimes. And the lads always appreciate a cake, so why not?' he glanced at her, lifting his chin up defensively. 'Go ahead, laugh all you want at the sixteen-year-old boy who likes to bake.'

Lily could tell that he thought she was going to mock him; however she was too amazed by the revelation to even think about that. James had made all those beautiful cakes; the lion that roared so loud it made her jump; the magnificent hippogriff that had flown around the room before landing proudly in front of Hagrid; the snow globe that had been filled with beautiful Christmas lights and softly falling snow. James had created them all. And perhaps the most precious one; the gentle doe that had trotted down the Gryffindor table to her, before folding itself in front of her, head on the table, eyes closed and ears flickering. She hadn't wanted to eat it, it was so lifelike. Until Marlene had unceremoniously snapped of its tail and it had frozen at her touch, never to move again.

'James,' she said, so lost for words that she didn't even register the use of his first name. 'I could never laugh at that. Your cakes are incredible.'

James hands stilled, and he looked up at her, shocked. 'Really? he asked. 'You think so?'

'Of course, I do!' she said, moving closer to him. 'James that motorbike drove up and down the table. It had exhaust fumes for Merlin's sake! I can't even begin to fathom how you could do that without it falling apart. And that snow globe? That was the most beautiful edible thing I've ever seen.' Lily moved closer to him now, placing her hand on his arm as she looked up at him earnestly. She could see the happiness in his eyes as she spoke, making him beam at her.

'Wait until you see this one,' he said excitedly. 'Pete is going to be able to play real chess on it. I think I've figured out the spell to get the pieces to move on their own. And I'm going to make every square a different flavour. It'll be brilliant.' He bounced in front of her, clearly eager about sharing his ideas with her.

'I'm sure Peter will be right chuffed with it, although I don't know that anything can beat that snow globe.'

'Not even… say, a dear?' he asked softly, his bouncing halting as his eyes searched hers.

'Oh,' said Lily softly. 'Well um, the snow globe had little Christmas lights on in the village and s-snow and uh snow…' her words faltered at James' searching gaze, his face open and curious, with only a hint of the mischief that never seemed to completely leave.

'Snow huh? Snow is more impressive than a real as life doe?' he asked, a small smirk crossing his face.

'Um,' said Lily stupidly. She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly feeling dry at his proximity, she watched as James' eyes flicked down to her mouth almost inscrutably quick. She felt that warmth from earlier spread throughout her body. 'No, the doe was amazing. It looked so real I didn't want to eat it.'

'Until Marlene did,' chuckled James, his warm breath once again fanning Lily's face.

'Yes,' breathed Lily. 'But,' she said conscious of her hand still on his bicep and his warm hand which had somehow wrapped around her own elbow without her noticing. 'How did you know? How did you know it was a doe?'

'I remembered,' he shrugged lightly, the small smile on his face so sincere that Lily felt her heart thump hard in her chest.

'Oh,' she murmured, thinking of the silver doe that had shot out of her wand, a literal reflection of her soul and happiness. She was touched and surprised that he'd thought that that moment was worth remembering. James was so close to her now that she didn't need to speak any louder, despite the noise her heart was making. She could see a light splattering of freckles that she had never noticed before, dusting his cheekbones, hidden under his brown skin.

'You know,' said James, his voice low, 'now that you know it's me, you should probably thank me.'

'And how should I do that?' Lily asked softly, knowing full well that she was waltzing into his easily sprung trap.

'I can think of a few ways,' murmured James.

And then finally, _finally_ , just when Lily thought she might actually go mad at the proximity, he kissed her.

Lily had been kissed before. She'd had gross, sloppy kisses (a certain muffin making boy comes to mind), she'd had awkward, rigid kisses (it really _did_ feel like she was kissing her brother) and she'd had random, accidental kisses (teasing Sirius about it would forever entertain her). Hell, she'd even kissed boys who definitely knew what they were doing, leaving her a shivering mess. The point being that Lily had been kissed numerous times, but she had never been kissed quite like this before.

James' lips were soft on hers as they moved together, tasting like the vanilla cake batter he had evidently eaten. His hand gripped her elbow firmly, whilst his other hand crept up to cradle her face softly. Her hands slid around his waist to grip onto the back of his shirt as he kissed her gently, like she would break apart in his hands if he wasn't careful. Later, when she was lying in bed thinking, Lily would be surprised at the way he kissed her, carefully and reverently, never taking any more than she gave, simply seeming content with her in his arms. She had always supposed that he would kiss (because yes, she had thought about it alright?) the same way he did everything; with enthusiasm and heat, like an uncontrollable fire. But as his lips caressed hers, slowly, languidly, she wasn't consumed by a roaring flame. Rather she felt a deep smouldering, burning into her skin as his thumb brushed her cheek.

Lily's head was spinning by the time he pulled away. Unwilling to let the moment end, she kept her eyes closed, leaning into his hands when she felt him place them both on her cheeks, cradling her face. Eyes closed, arms still wrapped around his waist, she panted lightly, her breath mingling with his. She would have been content to stay in this moment forever, forget the reality of what had just happened, the consequences that would surely follow. In this moment, nothing mattered but James holding her like she was entirely breakable and precious. Nothing mattered beyond his lips and his hands and his hair tickling her forehead.

She opened her eyes when she felt a warm pressure on her brow as James pressed a kiss to it. He pulled back and smiled gently, his expression filled with some unknown emotion that Lily wasn't sure she was ready to name.

Two words flickered around her own head, words barely there, impossible to fully grasp in that moment, even if she had wanted too. Many weeks, months, years later Lily would realise what they were; those fuzzy, out of reach words. _Home. Safe._ They would fill her mind every time she looked at her boyfriend, her fiancé, her husband. But for now, those words happily eluded her as soft hazel eyes met green ones and the taste of vanilla cake batter lingered on her lips, any memory of argument lost in that moment.

The next morning the Gryffindor table is buzzing with excitement at the enormous chessboard that appears in front of Peter. Everyone cheers loudly when Peter unceremoniously ruins Sirius in game and they finally get to eat the delicious creation, all the while speculating about who the mysterious cake maker is. (The current rumour is that Dumbledore himself had been seen visiting the kitchen and whipping up edible masterpieces.) And whilst the students are busy fighting over which chess piece they get to eat, the small stag curled up in front of Lily goes unnoticed by everyone but her and a certain messy-haired boy. Lily reaches out a finger to stroke its antlers lightly, watching as it freezes into dessert, idly thinking about how well it matches her doe.


End file.
